Sohu.com Inc. (SOHU) Short Interest Up 34.3% in October

Sohu.com Inc. (NASDAQ:SOHU) saw a large increase in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 998,002 shares, an increase of 34.3% from the October 14th total of 743,309 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 363,035 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.7 days. Approximately 3.5% of the shares of the company are sold short.

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Zacks Investment Research upgraded Sohu.com from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $40.00 price objective on shares of Sohu.com in a research note on Wednesday, August 31st. Deutsche Bank AG assumed coverage on Sohu.com in a research note on Friday, September 9th. They set a “buy” rating and a $53.30 price objective for the company. Citigroup Inc. downgraded Sohu.com from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 22nd. Finally, TheStreet downgraded Sohu.com from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 2nd. Three analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, five have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. The company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $45.83.

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Macquarie Group Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Sohu.com by 6.5% in the second quarter. Macquarie Group Ltd. now owns 3,703,534 shares of the company’s stock valued at $140,222,000 after buying an additional 226,711 shares during the last quarter. Coronation Fund Managers Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Sohu.com during the second quarter valued at about $44,692,000. Emerald Acquisition Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Sohu.com during the second quarter valued at about $20,449,000. Baillie Gifford & Co. boosted its position in shares of Sohu.com by 14.2% in the second quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 473,634 shares of the company’s stock valued at $17,931,000 after buying an additional 59,034 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Contrarius Investment Management Ltd boosted its position in shares of Sohu.com by 4.7% in the third quarter. Contrarius Investment Management Ltd now owns 313,039 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,852,000 after buying an additional 13,946 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 64.71% of the company’s stock.

Sohu.com (NASDAQ:SOHU) opened at 35.14 on Friday. Sohu.com has a 12-month low of $33.99 and a 12-month high of $59.50. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $40.74 and a 200-day moving average price of $40.38. The stock’s market capitalization is $1.36 billion.

Sohu.com (NASDAQ:SOHU) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 24th. The company reported ($1.68) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($2.22) by $0.54. Sohu.com had a negative return on equity of 11.13% and a negative net margin of 11.06%. The firm earned $411 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $420.03 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.27 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 21.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Sohu.com will post ($6.10) earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Sohu.com

Sohu.com Inc (Sohu) is an online media, search and game service company providing online products and services on personal computers (PCs) and mobile devices in the People’s Republic of China (the PRC). The Company operates through three segments: the Sohu segment; the Sogou segment, and the Changyou segment.